Barrister Rashna Imam, a Supreme Court lawyer and the wife of state minister for primary and mass education Bobby Hajjaj, will head a new independent committee set up by the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) to hear sexual harassment complaints from women cricketers.

The five-member panel is designed to give players a safe, fear-free route to raise concerns.

The board has deliberately left out anyone connected to the BCB itself. The aim is to shut out internal influence and conflicts of interest when complaints are received and examined, so women players can come forward freely and without pressure.

Joining her are Barrister Nazia Kabir, Barrister Anita Ghazi Rahman and Zarin Mahmud Hossain, with a former cricketer to be added as the fifth member. The board has not yet finalised her name, and the line-up remains incomplete until she is confirmed.

The move follows allegations in November 2025, when former national captain Jahanara Alam accused a member of the team management of sexual abuse. The BCB set up an investigation committee, and several other cricketers and team associates later spoke publicly about their experiences.

At that stage the board also said it would tighten institutional safeguards by creating a complaints committee, in line with a 2009 High Court Division ruling. Rubaba Dowla, a BCB director and women’s wing chief at the time, led the investigation panel.

Imam has a history with the board. Before its latest election she sat on the convening committee led by Tamim Iqbal and headed the women’s wing at the time.

The panel is meant to go further than that earlier response, giving women cricketers an independent place to report harassment and abuse without fear or hesitation, and to have their complaints examined impartially once they are formally filed with the committee.